Tab Hamilton, a freshman making his third start for Appalachian State, took charge early and scored 22 points on the road against Southern Conference rival Chattanooga on Saturday.
The performance impressed coach Jason Capel of the Mountaineers. But it didn't surprise him.
Both of Capel's freshmen — point guard Mike Neal and shooting guard Hamilton — have been thrust into starting roles earlier than Capel would have liked, but both have shown talent for the job. Hamilton's display on Saturday was perhaps a preview of things to come.
"Tab is probably the hardest worker on the team," Capel said. "You mix his talent with the fact that he's the first guy in the gym and the last to leave every day, you really have something. He takes pride in working hard. He is a kid that's fun to coach because he wants to be coached. He's a sponge. He wants to learn and get better, and he's not prone to make the same mistakes twice."
Hamilton, a former West Forsyth player who scored eight points in the first 6:22 and finished 6 of 11 on 3-point attempts against Chattanooga, said that he's taken pride in the fact that he is starting.
"I wanted to be the best at what coach wanted me to be," said Hamilton, who is averaging 14 points in his three starts. "We've needed more scoring off the bench, and more scoring period."
Hamilton, 6-foot-3, is averaging 8.7 points a game entering tonight's home game against Furman. He has made 42 percent of his 3-point attempts and is the top free-throw shooter for an ASU team struggling from the line.
His scoring total against Chattanooga, the most by an ASU freshman since all-time leading scorer Donald Sims put up 28 four years ago, got the attention of coach Jeff Jackson of Furman.
"It looks like he's a guy they're going to be able to count on for offense," Jackson said. "Maybe not a Donald Sims-type player in terms of doing as much as Donald did off the dribble, but it's pretty obvious he's talented and his ability to shoot the ball is apparent."
Capel said: "He can flat-out score the ball. That's his forte. That's what he's always been good at. But I think he's getting even better at it, even at this level, because he's becoming more patient. He's seeing things a lot clearer, things are slowing down for him….
"Tab is so naturally athletic, so fast and quick, that he's known just one speed and we've been trying to teach him if he can go fast, then slow, and back to fast, he's going to be even tougher to guard — and he's starting to realize that.
"He is a kid that can really shoot the ball well, but he will get even better as a player because he's still learning how to play at this level. You couple that with how hard he works, and he's going to be a really, really good player."
Hamilton averaged 17.4 points a game as a junior at West Forsyth but transferred to Fishburne Military Academy in Virginia, wanting to face stiff competition as part of a program that produces several Division I players annually.
"It was a military school, and that was something I really wasn't sure I wanted to do," Hamilton said. "But I knew if I did that, it would make me a stronger person and a better man and allow me to play against the competition I needed to make me ready to play when I got to college."
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